MARRIAGE in the 1983 Code of Canon Law |
|
|
What is marriage? CAN. 1055 §1 The marriage covenant, by which a man and a woman establish between themselves a partnership of their whole life, and which of its own very nature is ordered to the well-being of the spouses and to the procreation and upbringing of children, has, between the baptized, been raised by Christ the Lord to the dignity of a sacrament. Why should baptized persons marry in a Church ceremony? §2 Consequently, a valid marriage contract cannot exist between baptized persons without its being by that very fact a sacrament. What are the essential characteristics of the marriage covenant? CAN. 1056 The essential properties of marriage are unity and indissolubility; in christian marriage they acquire a distinctive firmness by reason of the sacrament. What is the most crucial act that makes a marriage valid? CAN. 1057 §1 A marriage is brought into being by the lawfully manifested consent of persons who are legally capable. This consent cannot be supplied by any human power. What is "matrimonial consent"? §2 Matrimonial consent is an act of will by which a man and a woman by an irrevocable covenant mutually give and accept one another for the purpose of establishing a marriage. Who can marry? CAN. 1058 All can contract marriage who are not prohibited by law. What laws govern marriage? CAN. 1059 The marriage of catholics, even if only one party is baptized, is governed not only by divine law but also by canon law, without prejudice to the competence of the civil authority in respect of the merely civil effects of the marriage. What if people begin to doubt their marriage? CAN. 1060 Marriage enjoys the favor of law. Consequently, in doubt the validity of a marriage must be upheld until the contrary is proven. What are the two stages which complete the validity of a marriage? CAN. 1061 §1 A valid marriage between baptized persons is said to be merely ratified, if it is not consummated; ratified and consummated, if the spouses have in a human manner engaged together in a conjugal act in itself apt for the generation of offspring. To this act marriage is by its nature ordered and by it the spouses become one flesh. When can we presume that a marriage has been consummated? §2 If the spouses have lived together after the celebration of their marriage, consummation is presumed until the contrary is proven. What happens if the parties enter into marriage in bad faith? §3 An invalid marriage is said to be putative if it has been celebrated in good faith by at least one party. It ceases to be such when both parties become certain of its nullity. What is "engagement" and what are the rules that govern it? CAN. 1062 §1 A promise of marriage, whether unilateral or bilateral, called an engagement, is governed by the particular law which the Episcopal Conference has enacted, after consideration of such customs and civil laws as may exist. Are engaged couples obliged to marry? §2 No right of action to request the celebration of marriage arises from a promise of marriage, but there does arise an action for such reparation of damages as may be due. 
PASTORAL CARE AND THE PREREQUISITES FOR THE CELEBRATION OF MARRIAGE Who in the Church are responsible for preserving marriage? How? CAN. 1063 Pastors of souls are obliged to ensure that their own church community provides for Christ's faithful the assistance by which the married state is preserved in its christian character and develops in perfection. This assistance is to be given principally: 1° by preaching, by catechetical instruction adapted to children, young people and adults, indeed by the use of the means of social communication, so that Christ's faithful are instructed in the meaning of christian marriage and in the role of christian spouses and parents; 2° by personal preparation for entering marriage, so that the spouses are disposed to the holiness and the obligations of their new state; 3° by the fruitful celebration of the marriage liturgy, so that it clearly emerges that the spouses manifest, and participate in, the mystery of the unity and fruitful love between Christ and the Church; 4° by the help given to those who have entered marriage, so that by faithfully observing and protecting their conjugal covenant, they may day by day achieve a holier and a fuller family life. Who is responsible for organizing the assistance to married couples? CAN. 1064 It is the responsibility of the local Ordinary to ensure that this assistance is duly organized. If it is considered opportune, he should consult with men and women of proven experience and expertise. Is the Sacrament of Confirmation necessary for a valid marriage? CAN. 1065 §1 Catholics who have not yet received the sacrament of confirmation are to receive it before being admitted to marriage, if this can be done without grave inconvenience. What other sacraments are recommended before the wedding? §2 So that the sacrament of marriage may be fruitfully received, spouses are earnestly recommended that they approach the sacraments of penance and the blessed Eucharist. What is the purpose of the pre-nuptial investigation? CAN. 1066 Before a marriage takes place, it must be established that nothing stands in the way of its valid and lawful celebration. Who sets the procedures concerning the proper administration of marriage? CAN. 1067 The Episcopal Conference is to lay down norms concerning the questions to be asked of the parties, the publication of marriage banns, and the other appropriate means of enquiry to be carried out before marriage. Only when he has carefully observed these norms may the parish priest assist at a marriage. Under what circumstances may these procedures be shortened? CAN. 1068 In danger of death, if other proofs are not available, it suffices, unless there are contrary indications, to have the assertion of the parties, sworn if need be, that they are baptized and free of any impediment. If there are any obstacles or objections to a wedding, who should inform the parish priest? CAN. 1069 Before the celebration of a marriage, all the faithful are bound to reveal to the parish priest or the local Ordinary such impediments as they may know about. Can someone other than the parish priest conduct the pre-nuptial investigation? CAN. 1070 If someone other than the parish priest whose function it is to assist at the marriage has made the investigations, he is by an authentic document to inform that parish priest of the outcome of these enquiries as soon as possible. What special cases require the prior permission of the local bishop? CAN. 1071 §1 Except in a case of necessity, no one is to assist without the permission of the local Ordinary at: 1° a marriage of vagi; 2° a marriage which cannot be recognized by the civil law or celebrated in accordance with it; 3° a marriage of a person for whom a previous union has created natural obligations towards a third party or towards children; 4° a marriage of a person who has notoriously rejected the catholic faith; 5° a marriage of a person who is under censure; 6° a marriage of a minor whose parents are either unaware of it or are reasonably opposed to it; 7° a marriage to be entered by proxy, as mentioned in Can. 1105. What if one or both parties have notoriously rejected the Catholic faith? §2 The local Ordinary is not to give permission to assist at the marriage of a person who has notoriously rejected the Catholic faith unless, with the appropriate adjustments, the norms of Can. 1125 have been observed. What should be done if the couple is "too young" to marry? CAN. 1072 Pastors of souls are to see to it that they dissuade young people from entering marriage before the age customarily accepted in the region.
DIRIMENT IMPEDIMENTS IN GENERAL What disqualifies a person from getting married? CAN. 1073 A diriment impediment renders a person incapable of validly contracting a marriage. Can there be impediments that are not evident? CAN. 1074 An impediment is said to be public, when it can be proved in the external forum; otherwise, it is occult. Who has the authority to determine what the impediments to valid marriage are? CAN. 1075 §1 Only the supreme authority in the Church can authentically declare when the divine law prohibits or invalidates a marriage. §2 Only the same supreme authority has the right to establish other impediments for those who are baptized. What if there are other impediments which are part of the people's customs? CAN. 1076 A custom which introduces a new impediment, or is contrary to existing impediments, is to be reprobated. Can a Bishop forbid a marriage? Under what conditions? CAN. 1077 §1 The local Ordinary can in a specific case forbid a marriage of his own subjects, wherever they are residing, or of any person actually present in his territory; he can do this only for a time, for a grave reason and while that reason persists. Who can countermand such a prohibition to marry? §2 Only the supreme authority in the Church can attach an invalidating clause to a prohibition. Who can grant dispensation from impediments? CAN. 1078 §1 The local Ordinary can dispense his own subjects wherever they are residing, and all who are actually present in his territory, from all impediments of ecclesiastical law, except for those whose dispensation is reserved to the Apostolic See. What are the impediments which only the Pope can dispense? §2 The impediments whose dispensation is reserved to the Apostolic See are: 1° the impediment arising from sacred orders or from a public perpetual vow of chastity in a religious institute of pontifical right 2° the impediment of crime mentioned in Can. 1090. What particular impediments are NEVER given a dispensation? §3 A dispensation is never given from the impediment of consanguinity in the direct line or in the second degree of the collateral line. Under what circumstances can a Bishop forego all the legal requirements for marriage? CAN. 1079 §1 When danger of death threatens, the local Ordinary can dispense his own subjects, wherever they are residing, and all who are actually present in his territory, both from the form to be observed in the celebration of marriage, and from each and every impediment of ecclesiastical law, whether public or occult, with the exception of the impediment arising from the sacred order of priesthood. When can priests and deacons likewise forego all the legal requirements for marriage? §2 In the same circumstances mentioned in §1, but only for cases in which not even the local Ordinary can be approached, the same faculty of dispensation is possessed by the parish priest, by a properly delegated sacred minister, and by the priest or deacon who assists at the marriage in accordance with Can. 1116 §2. Who can dispense from hidden or "occult" impediments? Under what circumstances? §3 In danger of death, the confessor has the power to dispense from occult impediments for the internal forum, whether within the act of sacramental confession or outside it. What do we mean when the Bishop is "unable to be approached" for the dispensation? §4 In the case mentioned in §2, the local Ordinary is considered unable to be approached if he can be reached only by telegram or by telephone. What if an impediment is discovered after all the wedding preparations have been made? CAN. 1080 §1 Whenever an impediment is discovered after everything has already been prepared for a wedding and the marriage cannot without probable danger of grave harm be postponed until a dispensation is obtained from the competent authority, the power to dispense from all impediments, except those mentioned in Can. 1078 §2, n. 1, is possessed by the local Ordinary and, provided the case is occult, by all those mentioned in Can. 1079 §§2-3, the conditions prescribed therein having been observed. What if an impediment is discovered after all the preparations for the validation of marriage have been made? §2 This power applies also to the validation of a marriage when there is the same danger in delay and there is no time to have recourse to the Apostolic See or, in the case of impediments from which he can dispense, to the local Ordinary. What should priests and deacons do after granting an extraordinary dispensation? CAN. 1081 The parish priest or the priest or deacon mentioned in Can. 1079 §2, should inform the local Ordinary immediately of a dispensation granted for the external forum, and this dispensation is to be recorded in the marriage register. How should secret dispensations of occult impediments be recorded? CAN. 1082 Unless a rescript of the Penitentiary provides otherwise, a dispensation from an occult impediment granted in the internal nonsacramental forum, is to be recorded in the book to be kept in the secret archive of the curia. No other dispensation for the external forum is necessary if at a later stage the occult impediment becomes public.
INDIVIDUAL DIRIMENT IMPEDIMENTS What is the minimum age for marrying in the Church? CAN. 1083 §1 A man cannot validly enter marriage before the completion of his sixteenth year of age, nor a woman before the completion of her fourteenth year. Can the Episcopal Conference raise this minimum age requirement? §2 The Episcopal Conference may establish a higher age for the lawful celebration of marriage. Is IMPOTENCE an impediment? CAN. 1084 §1 Antecedent and perpetual impotence to have sexual intercourse, whether on the part of the man or on that of the woman, whether absolute or relative, by its very nature invalidates marriage. What if the impotence is doubtful? §2 If the impediment of impotence is doubtful, whether the doubt be one of law or one of fact, the marriage is not to be prevented nor, while the doubt persists, is it to be declared null. Does sterility or infertility forbid or invalidate marriage? §3 Without prejudice to the provisions of Can. 1098, sterility neither forbids nor invalidates a marriage. Is a PREVIOUS MARRIAGE an impediment? CAN. 1085 §1 A person bound by the bond of a previous marriage, even if not consummated, invalidly attempts marriage. How and when can a previously wedded person marry validly? §2 Even though the previous marriage is invalid or for any reason dissolved, it is not thereby lawful to contract another marriage before the nullity or the dissolution of the previous one has been established lawfully and with certainty. Can the baptism of a non-Catholic invalidate his or her marriage? How? CAN. 1086 §1 A marriage is invalid when one of the two persons was baptized in the catholic Church or received into it and has not by a formal act defected from it, and the other was not baptized. §2 This impediment is not to be dispensed unless the conditions mentioned in cann. 1125 and 1126 have been fulfilled. What if at the time of the non-Catholic's marriage his or her baptism was doubtful? §3 If at the time the marriage was contracted one party was commonly understood to be baptized, or if his or her baptism was doubtful, the validity of the marriage is to be presumed in accordance with Can. 1060, until it is established with certainty that one party was baptized and the other was not. Is SACRED ORDERS an impediment? Can celibate deacons, priests, and bishops validly marry? CAN. 1087 Those who are in sacred orders invalidly attempt marriage. Are PUBLIC PERPETUAL VOWS an impediment? Can professed religious validly marry? CAN. 1088 Those who are bound by a public perpetual vow of chastity in a religious institute invalidly attempt marriage. Is ABDUCTION an impediment? Can a kidnapper validly marry the person he or she kidnapped? CAN. 1089 No marriage can exist between a man and a woman who has been abducted, or at least detained, with a view to contracting a marriage with her, unless the woman, after she has been separated from her abductor and established in a safe and free place, chooses marriage of her own accord. Is CRIME an impediment? Can a person validly marry another whose spouse he or she had killed? CAN. 1090 §1 One who, with a view to entering marriage with a particular person, has killed that person's spouse, or his or her own spouse, invalidly attempts this marriage. Can persons who indirectly caused the death of a spouse validly marry? §2 They also invalidly attempt marriage with each other who, by mutual physical or moral action, brought about the death of either's spouse. Is CONSANGUINITY an impediment? Can persons marry their natural children, parents, grandchildren, grandparents? CAN. 1091 §1 Marriage is invalid between those related by consanguinity in all degrees of the direct line, whether ascending or descending, legitimate or natural. Up to what extent may we not marry our relatives? §2 In the collateral line, it is invalid up to the fourth degree inclusive. §3 The impediment of consanguinity is not multiplied. §4 A marriage is never to be permitted if a doubt exists as to whether the parties are related by consanguinity in any degree of the direct line, or in the second degree of the collateral line. To what degree does direct-line affinity invalidate marriage? CAN. 1092 Affinity in any degree of the direct line invalidates marriage. What is the IMPEDIMENT OF PUBLIC PROPRIETY? CAN. 1093 The impediment of public propriety arises when a couple live together after an invalid marriage, or from a notorious or public concubinage. It invalidates marriage in the first degree of the direct line between the man and those related by consanguinity to the woman, and vice versa. Can relatives who had been adopted marry each other? CAN. 1094 Those who are legally related by reason of adoption cannot validly marry each other if their relationship is in the direct line or in the second degree of the collateral line. |
|
 DOLPHIN WEBSTER WEB DESIGN & DEVELOPMENT dolphin.web@mailcity.com |
